The Mask Is Off
by DarkHououmon
Summary: AU oneshot. Rated T to be safe. "Should I have expected this? Should we have seen this coming? Perhaps... But it is too late for that now. Too late for me..."
1. How Could I Not Have Seen?

Should I have expected this? Should we have seen this coming? Perhaps... But it is too late for that now. Too late for me...

Who would have thought that something like this could happen? I can't help but chuckle bitterly at myself. I regretted it as my damaged lungs burned with pain. I felt myself enter a horrible coughing fit, which did not help my lungs the least bit. A small bit of blood dripped down the corner of my mouth.

I looked around what had become my 'home' the past few days. Or had it been weeks? Years? I lost track of time. There's no sense of passage here, no way to know when a day ended and a new one began. For the longest time, I had been trapped here, in what had become my virtual hell. Lyoko.

Although I wore a blindfold, I could remember what this room looked like. It was inside a tower. No, not a tower. It looked very much like a tower on the outside. The inside was a different story. It was...horrendous, to put it simply. Coming from her, I never would have suspected something like this. Perhaps we all should have paid closer attention...

I recalled the room having twisted walls, spikes sticking out in many places. It was filthy and seemed to have some dark red stains. Blood? Was that possible on Lyoko? Then again, there may have been many things about Lyoko that were hidden from us. Perhaps I should not be surprised.

The chains cut deep into my wrists and ankles. My shirt and pants had been torn, charred, stained. I could still feel the stinging pain from the multiple bruises and cuts that now adorned my body. My hair, once held up in that wacky hairstyle, now lay flat at the sides of my head, unkempt and matted. I had gotten thinner, which I didn't think was possible. I hadn't eaten in so long.

We thought we knew Lyoko well. Jeremie would have told me I can't starve on Lyoko. She has been proving me wrong. My strength, I can feel it fading away.

She had put me here, this hell hole of a dwelling. Me, out of all people, she had chosen this fate for. What did I do to deserve this? Sure, I admit I wasn't the best ladies man. And yes, I was quite the bragger. But all I wanted to do was have fun. I liked to get enjoyment out of life, make the most of it. I know my jokes don't always go well, but I had good intentions. Did I deserve this because of that?

If we had seen right through her from the start, if we had put our guard up and be suspicious when she seemed to appear out of nowhere, maybe, just maybe, this never would have happened. Oh who am I kidding? No one would have suspected this, not from someone like her.

I could hear footsteps coming. Though I couldn't see, I turned my head to the source of the sound. I didn't need to see who it was. I already knew it was my 'gracious host'. It was her.

"You are not looking very well today, Odd."

Her voice, sickenly angelic, masked her true intentions. It made my stomach burn in anger. But I could do nothing except snarl at her and twitch my tail wildly. She cared nothing for me. She made that clear enough already. No, all she wanted to do was use me, for I had something she wanted.

"You are wasting your time." I hissed at her. "You know you'll never get me to talk."

If I could see her face, I imagine she'd be grimacing in anger. I turned my head away from her.

"I do not understand why you insist on hurting yourself more. I would have let you go if you would just..."

I snapped my head towards her. "If I what? Agreed to go along with your plan and let you use me, my power, to gain the upperhand against the Lyoko Warriors, my friends?" I shocked myself at how deep and angry my voice sounded. I held no regrets, though. I would not let her hurt my friends. I would never forgive myself.

"Oh Odd, Odd, Odd.." She said. I heard her take a step towards me. I tried to free my bound limbs. She appeared to take notice. "Try all you want to attack me. I know your fighting abilities well, Odd. I can assure you, so long as you are here with me, you can never harm me. Your Laser Arrows will be of no use here."

"Big talk from someone who had been playing the 'damsel in distress' when I first met you." I taunted, managing to smile despite my face being sore. "And you are really pathetic if you think I'd ever trade over my friends just so I can survive. I really don't want to die, but I will not bring my friends down. So you can just forget it."

I knew, deep down, this would not be the last time she would try to get information from me. She had been persistant. She acted calm, but each time she asked, I felt her growing angrier, more desperate sounding. She was a persistant one. Had it not been for my predicament, I would have admired that about her.

Then she screamed in anger. I felt my heart freeze. Had I finally worn out my welcome? She had never shown that kind of anger before. Her patience must have worn out. I braced myself for what was about to come.

She grabbed my tail and yanked it hard. I let out a hiss of pain, gritting my teeth, my cat ears flatted against my head. I heard a faint clang sound. She had pulled something out. I struggled to see what it was. The blindfold made it impossible. For once, I was not grateful not being able to see the torture room I had been placed in.

Sheering pain swept through my body as I felt her press something sharp against my tail. The blade sliced back and forth, about three inches away from the tip. I thrashed about, feeling hot tears spill down my face. When the blade cut through completely, I let out a scream.

Slowly, the pain had subsided. My breaths came in ragged and heavy. I had not expected her to go this far. I had not expected her to cut off the tip of my tail. Once again, I had made the mistake of assuming I knew her well. She always found a way to take me by surprise. How much further was she willing to go?

This was answered quickly as she grabbed one of my cat ears. I uttered a whimper as I prepared for what was about to come. I felt the blade's sharp edge against the midway point of my ear. I cried in agony as the blade began slicing through. I could feel my blood, warm and sticky, cover the side of my face.

When she was done cutting my ear, she dropped the blade to the ground. She grabbed my chin and held it tightly. She peeled my blindfold off so I could look into the eyes of my tormenter.

She had a small smile on her face. In her free hand, she held the bit of my tail and ear she had cut off. She let me have a long good look. I gulped, letting out a shudder. I felt myself fill up with dread. Before she had just caused somewhat minor bruises and cuts in an effort to get what she wanted. Obviously, she had been kind then. This, what she did, she was going to dismember me...

"There is more where this came from, Odd, if you do not tell me what I want." She said, her voice showing no signs of remorse for what she did to me. I felt her finger trace around my right thumb, and I knew what she was implying.

Despite the threat of dismemberment weighed heavily on my mind, I ripped my head from her and growled. "I will never tell you how my Future Flash works, Aelita!"

Her smile darkened, and I swore I saw a glint in her eyes. I was terrified and I could no longer hide it. I watched in horror as she brought the knife to my thumb.

"Have it your way, Odd..."


	2. How Did It Come To This?

Author's Note: I decided to continue the story.

**sss**

"_Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!_"

I hung my head low. I stared at the ground, not wanting to look up. Aelita was still there. I could hear her breathing. She was waiting for me to look at what she did to my hand. I didn't want to, no, she can't make me. I won't give her any more satisfaction. I don't care if she gets angry with me. She can go fuck herself for all I care.

I already knew what she had done. I wiggled my fingers on that hand and I felt something was missing. I had only three digits on that hand now. My warm blood coated it. I felt it run down my cat paw. I swear I could hear the drops splash on the ground. The room was so quiet, the splashes practically blared in my ear drums.

I felt something grab my chin. Despite my better judgment, I opened them. I looked into Aelita's eyes, finding nothing redeemable in them. She twisted my head roughly. I knew what she wanted me to do. I shut my eyes tightly. I felt her fingers roughly pry one of my eyes open. Gasping in shock, I pulled away. She released me, but it was too late. Those couple of seconds were enough to engrave the image into my brain.

She hadn't cut off my thumb. She had changed her mind. She had instead opted to slice off my pinky. All that remained was a hole at the edge of my paw. I could see the bone peaking out, jagged from the sawing. Fresh blood was leaking out of it, showing no signs of slowing down.

Being the sicko that she was, I was confused when she did not show me my dismembered body part. Perhaps she felt seeing the damage was good enough. I watched as she backed a few steps away from me. She stared at me with contempt. I tried to be brave.

"You see, Aelita?" I said, smiling the best I could. "You...you cannot make me tell you anything!"

Aelita did not look like she was losing any confidence. It was more like she was getting annoyed. I already knew her patience was wearing thin. The dismemberment was a warning. She could easily do far worse if she chose to.

Still, I had to remain strong. If I faltered now, she would win. No, not just her. XANA would win too. She would give the information to him, and then he would...oh god, I don't want to think about it...

Aelita shook her head. "That's just a shame, Odd. I could keep going on forever like this. Cutting you off bit by bit." She began to move towards me again, slowly, deliberately. "Soon, I could chop off entire limbs, maybe your legs first, then your arms. I could yank out your teeth one by one. And soon, you would be nothing but a bloody mess of disgusting organs, flesh and bone."

I couldn't stop a shudder running down my spine.

"Then you know what I would do next?" Aelita asked. I let out a soft growl. Aelita's eyes almost brightened at that. "Ah, so you know what I would do then. I'd have XANA divide it up and send them to your friends and family. I would tell them a lie of course. They'd believe anything I'd say."

I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to mask the fear growing inside of me. This was nothing like the Aelita I knew. How could she have turned out to be such a monster? It seemed only yesterday that we were at the cafeteria in Kadic, discussing our next mission to the Digital Sea.

I yelped as Aelita grabbed my cat ear, the one she did not cut, in a fist and twisted it tightly. I looked at her through pained eyes. I clenched my teeth, letting out a hiss.

"But I can't have that. It will not do. It simply won't." She pulled on my ear harder, prompting me to whine as I thrashed my tail about. "You can trust me when I say this, Odd. I won't have any remorse killing you. I could do it now without a second thought. I tolerated your nonsense long enough. So you can think of this as payback of sorts. Still...I can't do it. Not now. I won't be able to get the information I want from a corpse."

"I...won't...tell...you!" I hissed at her. "When will you...learn? I won't...tell you!"

Aelita growled and released her grip on me. She stared at me long and hard. I was prepared for more pain. I stared warily at the knife she still had in her hand. Her breathing seemed to quicken. She looked like she was having a hard time controlling her anger.

Then she suddenly relaxed. All traces of anger left her. I didn't know what to think of it, but part of me was glad. It was unnerving seeing Aelita like that. Not that it changed my predicament or anything. It's just that, well, you'd never forget the sight of a former friend staring at you like you are some pest they found off the street.

Aelita was apparently done talking to me. For now that is. She turned and walked away. She didn't bother putting my blindfold back on. I don't know if I was happy or not about that. I kind of liked it being on. That way I didn't have to look at this shitty place. The blood stains, the body parts she still had on the floor, the weapons she had used on me earlier...I didn't want to see any of it.

As soon as she disappeared, I was alone again with my thoughts. I had no idea how long I was going to be alone in here. I wanted to take the time I had to reflect on how I ended up here. How I had been so foolish...

It all happened a week after Aelita and I kissed to throw off Herv and Nicholas. I had just gotten out of the shower and finished getting dressed when Aelita contacted me on my cell phone. She told me that a tower was activated and that she and I had to head to Lyoko right then. I asked her about Jeremie and she said that Jeremie told us to on ahead on our own. I should have realized something was off right then. Jeremie would never let any of his friends go to Lyoko without him at the wheel, unless there was no other choice.

But how could I have doubted Aelita? She had proven herself trustworthy when it came to navigating Lyoko without Jeremie. So I didn't think anything of it. I didn't bother telling anyone where I was going. I assumed that good ol' Einstein would tell them for me. I said my goodbyes to Kiwi and told him to be a good dog. I put my shoes on and ran to the factory.

Once I got there, I was immediately taken aback by what I saw. By that, I mean there was no one there. I could have sworn Aelita had told me to meet her at the factory. I thought I misheard her and decided to try to call her back. I whipped out my cellphone. Before I had time to dial, I heard footsteps.

After that, it was a blur. I admit I don't remember much. As it turned out, Aelita had knocked me out. I didn't see the weapon she used, but whatever it was, it left a large bruise on my head. It was still tender to this moment.

I had woken up in this place. At first, I thought I was dreaming. I have pretty weird dreams. Something like this actually wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me. It did not take me long to realize not only was I not dreaming, I really wished that I was. I'd take a nightmare over this.

I saw Aelita walking up to me. I tried to move towards her. I realized I was tied up. I asked her what was going on. I begged her to untie me so we could escape. She just looked at me...and smiled...and gave a small laugh. I felt my blood boil. I practically yelled at her. How could she have seen this as funny? That's when I knew it. It hit me like a ton of bricks. She was the one who did this to me...

Aelita explained to me how she was growing tired of the mask she was wearing. She said how much of a relief it was to take this mask she invented off and show at least one person who she really was. She made it clear to me that she was never our friend. Her loyalty was always with XANA. She had been playing us all for fools.

I felt my heart twist in horror as she explained everything to me. How a lot of things we thought were luck or coincidental, she and XANA had planned. The missions had gone according to what they had in mind. We all were played like pawns in a chess game.

I had tried to escape after that. And that was when she told me how she had taken interest in my Future Focus move. I no longer had that ability. Jeremie had removed it. That did not deter her. She said it was still in my programming, only deactivated. She said I didn't have to be able to use it now to tell her what she wanted.

She was going to use it against my friends.

I refused to tell her, and well, this is where I had ended up. She abused me for...I don't know how long it's been. Ever since I came here, I was in pain. She didn't let up. Before one injury would heal, she would give me another. And she progressively got worse.

She cheerfully told me how she had masked my data so Jeremie could not find me on Lyoko. She smiled as she told me the lies she told the others, how she had fooled them all into thinking I was kidnapped in the real world. Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi were looking desperately for me. But they would never find me, because they are looking in the wrong place...

Once I tried to call on my cellphone. It had slipped out of my pocket during my struggling. Aelita got to it before my tail could. She stomped it to bits in front of me. I felt my hope die down more.

Yet I refused to submit to her. It is getting harder day by day. Sometimes I almost give up. Then I remind myself on what will happen if she gets what she wants. I couldn't allow that to happen. Even if I lose my life, at least my friends would be safe. I don't know how XANA and Aelita plan on using my Future Flash against my friends, but I knew it could not be any good.

I saw a shadow forming ahead. Part of me wanted to believe I was rescued. The other wanted to nag me on not being so ignorant.

I couldn't stop myself from hissing loudly when I saw Aelita come back. I folded my ears against my head, ignoring the pain in my ripped ear. She was holding a syringe of some kind. I stared at it intently. I hated needles. What was she planning?

"Last chance, Odd." Aelita said calmly. She lifted the needle up, holding it almost delicately. "Tell me, or I will resort to...drastic measures."

I snorted. "Oh don't flatter yourself, 'princess'! It will take more than some stupid needle to make me talk!"

Aelita just smiled at me. I don't know if I find her eerie calmness or her terrifying anger more frightening. "Your needle phobia will be the last of your worries Odd." I looked at her, morbid curiosity getting the better of me. "There are a lot of ways to break someone. Some are worse than death, wouldn't you agree?"

I gulped when I saw her get that look in her eye. The look that said she was up to something. I got familiar with it before her true colors were revealed.

"Where are you getting at...?" I asked cautiously.

Aelita took a step forward. She reached out and placed her hand against my cheek. She stroked it gently. I pulled my head away and growled at her. My ears pressed flatter on my head. "Don't you dare fucking touch me, you traitor!"

Aelita feigned a hurt look. "Oh Odd, I just wanted to do something nice for you."

"Bullshit!" I screamed at her. I felt my heart start to race as she brought the needle closer to me. "Get that thing away from me!"

"If you tell me about your Future Flash, I will." She said, her voice deadly serious. I shook my head furiously. She shrugged. "I tried to reason with you. When this is over, you will have no one to blame but yourself." I felt the needle ever so lightly touch my neck. "Just hold still and you won't have to suffer another needle."

I winced as I felt a sharp prick in my neck. I felt something cold being injected into my neck. When she pulled the needle away, I said, "What are you going to do to me?"

She gave me an eerie grin. "Let's just say...I wouldn't tell Jeremie about this."

It took me a few seconds to realize what she was implying. My eyes widened in horror. "No..you...you wouldn't...no...not that..." I stammered. I could only watch as Aelita approached me as I felt the cold liquid begin to take affect...


	3. How Could She Do This?

After Aelita had finished, she took a few steps back. She looked almost proud of what she did. She gave me the harshest sneer she could muster. She reached out and patted me on the head. I was too stunned about the recent actions to respond. I hardly paid attention to her as she spoke.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" She said in a sickenly sweet voice. "I could have avoided this drastic measure, Odd, but you forced me to play this hand."

My eyes were shut. I turned my head to the side. I didn't want to look at her. I didn't want to see her face. I wanted nothing to do with her, not after what she had done to me. I expected her to get angry and slap me. Instead, to my surprise, she had turned to walk away.

Curious, I opened my eyes. She stopped and turned her head. I bit my lip. It was almost as if she could hear my eyelids.

A creepy smile appeared on her face. "I will leave you alone for a while. I trust that my...persuasion...will encourage you to make the right decision. If not, I will have to step it up a level."

As she disappeared out of the tower, I wanted to yell something at her. I wanted to scream and all her out on all the bullshit she put me through. I wanted to break free and claw out her eyes with my claws. There was so much I wanted to do to her. My mind was swimming with all these angry thoughts. It was like a soup of words, and I was trying my best to hold onto them mentally, lest they spill over and drive me insane.

Yet, I kept silent. Oh sure, I did glare at her. I did grit my teeth and growl. But that only lasted a few seconds. Not even a minute after Aelita left me alone, I felt my heart fill with so much ache. My ears drooped down and I felt tears fill my eyes. I know I'm a guy and I'm not supposed to cry. But screw gender expectations. Right now, I could care less about them. I let my tears fall, uncaring if Aelita came back to see them.

I just couldn't believe what had happened. I couldn't believe she did that to me. Never, in a million years, did I expect Aelita to...to...do that to me. How could she do that? I stared down at the floor. I could see the blood she had shed from me. The pain was still present there. It dulled only slightly. This made me somewhat thankful for the chains. I would have a harder time hurting myself via movement this way.

It hurt. Oh gawd it hurt so much. It hurt because Aelita, before her betrayal, would be the one to help with injuries. She would help me feel better. Now, not only did she cause me pain, but it was more excrutiating than anything I ever felt. It was the kind of pain that could not be so easily forgiven, so easily forgotten. It was damaging pain. It affected people not just physically, but mentally as well.

I couldn't get her face out of my mind. The sneer she had when she...did those things to me. The look of satisfaction she had when I did what she wanted me to do. I could still feel the pain there as she performed her actions. The only thing keeping me from crying, the only reason I did not plea for mercy was because I did not want to give her that satisfaction. My damaged mind was strong enough to at least resist that.

I could not allow her and XANA to get me to tell them about how my Future Flash worked. That could never be allowed. If I told them, they could use it against my friends, my real friends. And who knows if they had anything else planned. I don't know how far they would take it. And not knowing was a frightening thing.

But how long would I last? I pondered this as I watched my tears fall from my face. Her act, it was cruel and heartless. Would she do it again? Sure she would. She was that kind of person. The sympathetic Aelita never existed. This is who she really was. It made me sick just thinking about it. It also made me feel depressed, used, like she was leading me on. Well that was exactly what she was doing. Not just to me, but all of us.

I don't know if I could handle another of those actions. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she knew it was going to work eventually. Maybe two or three more times, and I would break, give in to tell her what she wanted. I would rather die before I let that happen, but, knowing Aelita, she would make sure I couldn't kill myself. She would hold back and keep me alive until she got what she wanted. I could delay her, but would it be enough? While I want to remain optimistic, at this point, nothing is certain.

I wanted to block the incident out of my mind. For a moment, I just wanted to forget it happened. I closed my eyes. Sleep would help me. Yes, it would help me forget, if just for a moment. I welcomed the darkness as my eyelids closed. I welcomed the exhausted feeling that swept over my mind and body. It was the only good feeling I had here today. I took in a deep breath as I left sleep start to overtake me.

The next thing I knew, I was in a large white room. Was I in a hospital? There were no signs of medical equipment anywhere. Just where was I? I walked around. I was alone. I didn't see anyone else with me. Even Aelita seemed to have vanished, not that I cared.

I continued walking through the empty room. There were no items on the floor. There was no signs that any human being was in this room. And why was it so massive? It seemed to go on forever. I had never seen a room this large, unless it was a warehouse. But the roof was too low. It was almost like this room was meant for a person to be on and just..do something.

The floor was soft, unusually soft. I wanted to say it was carpeting, but this felt even softer than that, much more cushioned. I looked down and saw that it was padded. But why would it be padded? It felt unnecessary. I then looked around the room. Suddenly everything seemed to be getting much smaller. The walls moved in towards me and stopped until it was about the size of a kitchen. I got a better look at the walls now and saw that they too were padded. I looked up. The ceiling was padded too.

But why? The only place that would have this would be...an isolation room of some kind. Usually a mental ward. Why would I be here? I wasn't crazy...I wasn't... I rushed towards the door and slammed against it, only to be roughly thrown back by...the door itself. It moved, it lashed out against me. It stretched out and slapped me again, sending me flying against the cushioned wall.

As I tried to get up, I was unable to move my hands or arms. I struggled for a few seconds before I finally realized what was wrong. I was wearing a straitjacket. The piece of cloth binded my arms hard against my body. I felt my heart begin to race. My breathing quickened. What was going on here?!

The menacing door opened up, this time not reaching out to attack me. There was a void-like space. Black as night, and dark-colored steam filled the room. Something ghostlike came in. It swirled along the walls before slithering on the floor like a snake. It reached me and wrapped itself around me. A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at me. But that isn't what frightened me the most.

The smoke had a pair of XANA-fied eyes.

I screamed and kicked at the smoke. It dissipated, but still hung around in the air above me, as if it were just taunting me. It then disappeared after a few minutes. After that, a nurse came into the room, perhaps to check up on me. I got up to my feet and rushed out the door. I stood in her path and began yelling desperately at her.

"Please! You gotta help me! There's a...!"

The nurse waved her hand dismissively. "I know, there's some weird black smoke following you everywhere. I know. You told us a thousand times, Mr. Belpois."

I froze. Belpois? Why would the nurse be calling me that? I wasn't Jeremie.

"I'm Odd! Odd Della Robbia! And why am I in a mental institution?!" I screamed at her.

She frowned at me and gripped my straitjacket. "There's no need to get testy, Mr. Belpois. Pretending to be your deceased friend isn't exactly going to be your ticket out. Now get back in that room before I have to force you in."

I was stunned. My eyes widened. My mind was almost completely blank. How could that nurse think I was Jeremie? How could she believe I was dead? What the hell happened while I went to sleep? How could this all be happening?

I just stood there, watching the nurse as she disappeared into the darkness of the building. I looked around. There were other people. Some looked at me. Others just ignored me. I felt as if the walls were closing in on me. I saw someone in complete shadow walking towards me. Instinctively, I moved back, soon finding myself pressing my back into the cushioned wall of what was apparently Jeremie's room.

The shadow person wasn't very tall. They were barely my height. As soon as they got within a foot of me, the shadows seemed to literally drop from them. Now I could get a good look at who this visitor was. My eyes widened at who it was.

"Aelita?" I glared at her. What was she doing here?

"Yes, Jeremie, it's me." She said, smiling an almost sweet smile.

"Cut the crap!" I snapped at her. "I'm not Jeremie! I'm Odd!"

Aelita looked surprised at first. Then just smirked. "I knew you would take Odd's death too hard, dear. But I never thought it would affect you this much." Her voice was disturbingly cheery. She talked as if she were just referring to the weather. "If I had known I would drive you this insane, I would have done this a long time ago."

I felt tears swell in my eyes. "Why...? Why would you do this?"

Aelita's smile never left her face. "You see, I needed a way to get you out of the picture. Without you, Ulrich and Yumi would not have been able to do anything to stop me and XANA. They can't get into Lyoko now. I made sure of it." Her smile broaded. "You, Jeremie, were the only obstacle in our way. Placing you in a mental ward was perfect. All it took was some...manipulation..."

I growled at her. I tried to lash out, but only ended up falling on the ground. I felt Aelita press her foot against my side. I craned my head to look up at her. "Traitor..."

"Oh Jeremie...Jeremie..." Aelita shook her head. "How could I be a traitor when I was never on your side to start with? You brought this on yourself, you know. You could have saved us the trouble and just joined us. You chose this path. Now you will have to live with it for the rest of your pitiful life..."

"No...no!" I struggled on the ground.

Aelita reached into her pocket. I winced, expecting her to be reaching for a gun. Instead, she took out a mirror. She lowered it in front of my face.

"Look at yourself. Look at what you allowed yourself to become."

I didn't want to. I did not want to look. But I did anyway. I looked into the mirror. And I gasped at what I saw. It wasn't my face. It was Jeremie's. He looked terrible. His face was paler than normal. His eye lids were dark, indicating he wasn't getting a lot of sleep. His eyes were full of sorrow and hopelessness. His hair was messy and covered in filth.

I slowly looked up at Aelita. She gave me, or rather Jeremie, an evil grin. "Why are you so suprised? Did you really think people were going to believe you when you told them Odd was killed by a virtual 'princess' and a computer program? What did you expect to happen?"

Then she laughed, and the whole room became covered in blackness.

That was when I woke up. My eyes flew open. My body was shaking from shock and fright. I felt myself covered in sweat. My eyes hurt from the tears they were shedding. I looked around. I found myself still tied up where Aelita left me. I could feel strong emotions of relief and disappointment overwhelm me.

Disappointment that I was still stuck in this wretched hellhole.

Relief that I was still alive and Jeremie was not sent to a mental hospital.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I looked over and saw Aelita leaning against the wall. I let my mouth open in shock. How long had she been there? How much had she seen? As she stood up, I got my answer sooner than I expected, or had hoped.

"I see I...affected you more than I thought I would." She crooned softly. I gritted my teeth. She walked up to me until she was inches away from my face. "I hope you will make the right choice, Odd. I don't want to have to do that to you again. If you cooperate, I won't have to do something worse to you."

My eyes grew big. "W-What are you..."

Aelita giggled. "What I did to you, I showed mercy. I could have done more, but I didn't. If you refuse this opportunity, not only will I do that again, but I will have to make some more...modifications to your body..." She held up a knife, a larger, sharper one than the one from before.

"No!" I cried out, horror filling my head.

"No?" Aelita said calmly. "If you don't want to lose something more..." She roughly grabbed my uncut ear and pulled hard. I tried hard not to yelp in pain. "Grant your Future Flash to XANA!" She held the knife against the ear, threatening to slice it.

I could only stare at her in fear, unsure of what to do.


End file.
